Re: time periods

[Dave Montuori <damont@wolfstar.com>]

Poster: Dave Montuori <damont@wolfstar.com>


> If one wanted to try and
> define where the Middle Ages began, I would look at the time period that
> Boethius wrote _The Consolation of Philosophy_.  This is seen by many as
> one of the first "medieval" texts.  It is written that it "was one of the
> most popular and influental books in Western Europe from the time it was
> written, in 524, until the end of the Renaissance."  A book for all
> periods, eh?

How about Augustine's _City of God_, which was probably the second most
widely read book in that same time frame? That would move the date back
some. We could probably go on and on about dates; soc.history.medieval has
an ongoing intermittent thread about it, as one might expect.

Hypothesis: All reasonable start dates for the Middle Ages fall after the
year 323 C.E., and the SCA's collective concept places all start dates at
or before 800 C.E.

(N.B. I worded that very carefully, and had to do it over three times
before I thought it said what I wanted it to mean. Whew.)

Evan

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